A small, colorful finch bird (Fringilla coelebs) native to Europe and western Asia, often seen in gardens and woodlands.
From Old English ceaf (chaff) plus finch (a small bird). Named because the bird was commonly seen eating spillage and chaff around grain stores and threshing areas.
The chaffinch got its name because it loved hanging around grain threshing areas looking for chaff—by watching birds, medieval people accidentally created a whole vocabulary of animal names!
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